Woman has sentence increased for sexual activity with 14-year-old boy

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/oct/03/woman-sentence-increased-sexual-activity-boy

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A woman who engaged in sexual activity with a 14-year-old boy after a drunken night out has been jailed by leading judges who overturned her “unduly lenient” non-custodial sentence.

Court of appeal judges in London quashed the nine-month suspended prison term originally imposed in the case of Karen Ackland, 44, of Deal in Kent, and replaced it with an order that she should serve two years.

Ackland was sentenced at Canterbury crown court in July after admitting three counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child.

The charges related to offences committed in April 2013 against the 14-year-old son of a friend.

Lord Justice Pitchford, sitting with Mr Justice Dingemans and Mr Justice William Davis, ruled on Friday that the original sentence, which had been suspended for a year, was “plainly unduly lenient”.

Announcing the decision, Pitchford said the court accepted that the offences were “out of character”, and committed “on one drunken evening”.

Speaking after the hearing, the solicitor general, Robert Buckland, said: “Karen Ackland, a 44-year-old woman, clearly took advantage of a teenager.

“I note that the defendant pleaded guilty at a late stage in this case. I referred the case to the court of appeal as being unduly lenient because the original sentence failed to fully reflect the ages of the defendant and the victim.

“I am therefore pleased the court of appeal today imposed an immediate prison term on Ackland, which should reassure the public and send out a strong message to women that teenage boys have a legal right to be protected from potential sexual interference.”